However, software vendors pay Gartner for its research, so the magic quadrant analysis isn't necessarily 100% independent.  While it may be a useful data point in an ERP selection process, the findings are subjective based on dimensions that may or may not indicate a ERP solution's true position in the market.  For these reasons, it can be difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the quadrant by itself.

On the flip side, our team at Panorama uses a number of quantitative analyses to compare leading ERP vendors.  According to our independent 2010 ERP Report published earlier this year, vendors vary fairly significantly in their positions in the marketplace, average implementation costs, benefits realized, and a variety of other metrics that measure true results and vendor viability.  One of many key findings from our report is that certain ERP systems have higher rates of being short-listed and selected than others.In analyzing our data for 1,600 ERP selection and implementation projects across the globe, we found that SAP is the most commonly short-listed ERP system, short-listed by 20% of the companies in our study.  SAP is followed by Microsoft Dynamics (15%), Oracle eBusiness Suite (10%), and Epicor (8%).  The top 10 ERP vendors are outlined in the table below, ranked by their frequency of being short-listed by organizations in our study:

Top 10 Short-Listed ERP Vendors

 Source: Panorama Consulting Group